Havering’s Council Tax: The Government’s Exemption Policies

Ray Morgon uses apocalyptic language when discussing government funding. In 2010, before the Conservatives’ Age of Austerity, Havering received £70m. This was reduced to £2.9m in 2023. A £100m per year reduction when corrected for inflation.¹Religious buildings are zero rated for business rates and charity shops pay only 20%. Havering’s finances are damaged by these exemptions.

Uncosted exemptions reflect prejudices of by-gone eras.² The government imposes exemptions for religious buildings without compensation for the council.³ Voters haven’t a say as to whether they want to subsidise religions.⁴

“….belief in ‘a god’ in the UK is low. Only a quarter of Britons (27%) say they actually believe in ‘a god’. A further one in six (16%) believe in the existence of ‘a higher spiritual power’, but not ‘a god’.”⁵

As 73% of people aren’t religious, why do tax exemptions exist? It isn’t obvious why churches should get financial support from Havering.

Charities are different. Local charities command general support. St Francis Hospice is a well-loved charity in Havering. Their shops provide funds beyond normal charitable giving. Their accounts don’t acknowledge the value of the 80% business rate reduction. However, their reserves of £19.44m are helped by those reductions.⁶

Havering has had massive reductions in annual funding but can’t maximise its tax base. Government decisions about religion and charities are paid for by Havering’s taxpayers.

Notes

1 Inflation calculator | Bank of England

2 There are 110 Christian buildings in Havering which don’t pay business rates. Havering’s flagship church is St Edward’s, Romford. Its financial statement reveals the building is worth £16.24m and they have reserves of £318,000 de5291_4413260d7c764342a5681c27d3be80a8.pdf (stedwardsromford.com)

3 There are 7 charity shops on Hornchurch High Street charity shops in hornchurch – Search (bing.com) They don’t pay VAT and so have further commercial advantages. See VAT for charities: Overview – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

4 See Havering Council and Religious Diversity – Politics in Havering

5 How religious are British people? | YouGov

6 388190336.pdf (sfh.org.uk) See also do charities pay business rates uk – Search (bing.com)

Havering Council Meeting, 6th September 2023

On a hot night eleven councillors, 20%, were absent (see Addendum).

What did they miss? Not a lot. There were no motions, which shows a tragic lack of ambition by the Conservatives. David Taylor, a Conservative, wrote in the Havering Daily,¹ that spending £300,000 on the ULEZ High Court case was a good idea. This might have drawn a crowd especially as it involved slashing councillor allowances.

Question Time was the only event.

Martin Goode (54 minutes)² probed the Leader about agency staff. His answer possibly gave a hostage to fortune. Christine Smith (1:13) asked an important question about measles. Gillian Ford said Havering was better than London but worse than England, which sounds pretty bad. David Taylor (49) promoted *Faith* groups who provide services to the community. He asked for a meeting. Perhaps the Leader will chat with other volunteer groups who patch up LBH’s social services, at no cost to the borough.

Dilip Patel (1:07) stood in for Jason Frost and posed a killer supplementary question to Oscar Ford. Cabinet members read prepared answers but do they understand what they’re reading? The critical question about how many child-carers there are was fundamental to Ford’s answer. He didn’t know. He hadn’t done his homework.

I take a jaundiced view of eulogies but Stephanie Nunn was a warrior. She overcame her distress (5 minutes 45 seconds) announcing the death of Barbara Matthews. She carried on orchestrating speeches – not all of which were of the highest quality.

Addendum: Absent councillors

Joshua Chapman, John Crowder, Philippa Crowder, Sarah Edwards, Brian Eagling Jason Frost, David Godwin, Robby Misir, Sue Ospreay, Philip Rock and Natasha Summers

Notes

1 ‘Our council has failed to prepare for ULEZ’-Havering’s missed chance to support residents. – The Havering Daily

2 Annotator Player (sonicfoundry.com) All times are in brackets and refer to this webcast

Extraordinary Council Meeting, 30th August 2023

Keith Prince is a Havering and GLA councillor. He chairs the GLA Transport committee, holding Mayor Khan to account. He’s in a powerful and unique position but what does Havering gain?

Havering is the GLA’s Ugly Duckling. We’ve been left out of SuperLoop, didn’t get a station at Beam Park, don’t have good north-south bus routes, electronic bus signs are rarely to seen, and Gallows Corner is a national joke. Keith might be lobbying but he annoys the Mayor. This meeting could have been Keith’s showcase. It was a disaster. His speech (1:33)¹ was ill-prepared, badly delivered and showed why Havering gets a raw deal from the GLA.

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Virtually every councillor thinks Havering’s air is of unimprovable. Gerry O’Sullivan (1:06) blamed air pollution deaths, in part, on the 1953 Great Smog. Mandy Anderson ((1:09) quoted Boris Johnson bragging ULEZ would make London, “The greatest city on earth.” Dilip Patel (34) got technical with a critique of the Imperial College report. He made important points about tyres and brakes generating air pollution. Reg Whitney (52) said £12.50 was a permit to pollute. He said pollution could stop by 2028 if non-compliant cars were banned altogether, which is an excellent point.

Ray Best’s (1:18) family have 10 non-compliant vehicles.² Other councillors had personal horror stories but he won. The debate featured hand-wringing about the plight of poor people. Nisiha Patel (53) said her daughter, a doctor, would suffer. Perhaps a generous gift at her next birthday will soften the ULEZ blow.

Frankie Walker (1:25) said London was unfairly treated in comparison to Manchester and Bristol. Trevor McKeevor (1:30)³ quoted a Grant Shapps letter virtually ordering the Mayor to extend ULEZ.

It turns out that pay-per-mile will probably come in after 2030 to replace the money lost from people converting to electric vehicles which don’t pay Fuel Duty.

Stephanie Nunn, Havering’s Mayor, kept the debate moving by being ‘Firm but Fair’.

Addendum: Absent councillors

Robert Benham, Joshua Chapman, Osman Dervish, Jason Frost, Jane Keane, Robbie Misir, Matt Stanton, Christine Vickery, Damian White and Chris Wilkins. 10 out of 55

Notes

1 (Public Pack)Agenda Document for Council, 30/08/2023 19:30 (havering.gov.uk) This is the wording of the single motion for debate. The debate webcast is here Annotator Player (sonicfoundry.com) Times indicate when a speaker began their speech. Prince = 1 hour 33 into the debate.

2 Perhaps he was inspired by the famous Four Yorkshire sketch? Four Yorkshiremen- Monty Python – YouTube

3 He also put a tetchy Chief Executive right (1:21) about councillors waiting to speak and so everyone got their turn even though the meeting was extended twice.

‘Living in Havering’ Magazine, 23rd August 2023

In 2018 Damian White made the taxpayer funded Living in Havering a Conservative Party newsletter. The latest HRA edited magazine is going the same way.¹

Ray Morgon, or is it Gillian Ford?² has written an article on the introduction of ULEZ in Havering. It’s a biased political statement.

They begin their rant, “The expansion of the zone has been incredibly unpopular in outer-London boroughs.” Morgon-Ford depend on the ravings of Twitter and Conservative propaganda for their opinions. Redbridge Council, an outer-London borough, in their version of Living In Havering,³ place ULEZ as their 8^th item in a single sentence, “The Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) will be Londonwide from Tuesday, 29 August 2023.” Redbridge inform residents about matters of direct concern to them, not party-politics at the taxpayers’ expense.

Morgon-Ford keep on digging, “Unfortunately, the scheme is only available to those that live in London, so people and businesses outside of the borough that need to drive in for work, are not eligible for any support.”

They want Londoners to pay for the upgrading of Brentwood residents’ cars.⁴ HRA want to increase the GLA precept to subsidise Conservative county councils. If they think ULEZ is unpopular, they want to try that one.

HRA’s Living In Havering is taxpayer funded and shouldn’t be a party-political propaganda sheet. If they want to know what a proper Council magazine looks they should read Redbridge Update.

Notes

1 ULEZ rolls out to Havering, knife arrests in Romford, fly-tipper caught and fined (govdelivery.com)

2 Gillian Ford has emerged as the PR face of the administration with numerous TV and media appearances.

3 Latest news and updates from Redbridge Council – 12hedonic@gmail.com – Gmail (google.com) The lead item is GCSE results

4 Brentwood council tax bands & costs 2023/24 They pay £120 p.a. less than Havering for a band D property

Andrew Rosindell: Romford’s Absentee MP

Background

Andrew was arrested in May, 2022 for various alleged offences.¹ His police bail has been extended five times from then until August, 2023.

When bailed he made a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ with the Conservative Chief Whip to distance himself from parliament. Neither expected police bail to last 15 months.

Politics

Non-attendance from parliament for 15 months is unique. It begs the question whether Romford is represented as it should be. A pragmatic solution, to what was hoped to be a temporary embarrassment, has become a nightmare. Andrew’s absence means the Chief Whip and he have denied Romford their democratic rights.
Worse, Romford Conservative party members were deceived during Andrew’s reselection process. They didn’t know he was persona non grata ²in the parliamentary Conservative party. As a long-standing MP with an excellent track record he could have been reselected anyway.

Police Bail

Is 15 months of police bail an abuse of the system?

“The officers making the decision to extend police bail must be satisfied that the investigation by police has been conducted diligently and expeditiously, and that keeping the person on bail whilst the investigation is conducted is both necessary and proportionate.”³ (my emphasis)

Five extensions are shocking.

Conclusion

Andrew deserves better than this and so do the people of Romford.

Notes

1 Tory MP Andrew Rosindell has not attended parliament for more than a year since arrest (thetimes.co.uk)

2 persona non grata meaning – Search (bing.com)

3 How long can I be kept on police bail? – TV Edwards Solicitors see also The Perplexing Reality of Extended Police Bail | London’s Defence Lawyers (stuartmillersolicitors.co.uk)

Upminster By-election, 10th August 2023

RAs traditionally are possessive about their wards. It is their ward. Everything is important because they live alongside their voters. RAs regard Party politics as an obnoxious distraction in local government. They glory in being ‘amateurs’ unsullied by party bosses dictating policy decisions.

Jacqueline Williams doesn’t list her address in the election notification.¹ So what? Her fellow Upminster councillors are cabinet members with listed addresses despite their high profile. Not listing her address makes her semi-detached about core Resident Association values. Modern RAs are a clique trading on a diluted brand.

The late Linda Hawthorn became a councillor when she was 37 years-old. She served her ward for 33 years as a true RA, receiving a miniscule allowance at the beginning. Allowances were £200 a year in 1990. Jacqueline will receive £10,412 p.a. Needless to relate Linda listed her address, home phone number and wasn’t in it for a pension supplement.

Hornchurch and Upminster Conservative Party

Conservative Central Office have thrown their candidate, Ed Green, out of the party He flaunts his obnoxious views.² Did Hornchurch and Upminster Conservatives ‘discover’ his opinions like everyone else – through reading the Romford Recorder? Do they even care?

Selection committees scrutinise candidates. His proposers, Samuel Green and John Mylod, must know him. So, what sort of political conversations did they have? He’s been ejected from the Conservative party but they’re still members. Why? There’s a question mark over the entire selection panel for the same reason.

Meanwhile everyone has noticed Julia Lopez’s deafening silence.³Conservative Central Office should see if Hornchurch and Upminster constituency party is rotten to the core.

Addendum: The election result

Jacqueline won a stupendous victory massively defeating all other candidates

Notes

1 Notification of candidates Upminster By-Election 2023 Statement of Persons Nominated (havering.gov.uk) The Havering Daily published self-penned descriptions of candidates. This is Jacqueline’s Upminster By-Election Special: Jacqueline Williams – Upminster Resident Association Candidate. – The Havering Daily She’s quite entitled to not list her address but it goes against the RAs DNA.

2 Suspended Conservative Ed Green defends Greta Thunberg post | Romford Recorder See also Hornchurch and Upminster Conservative Association select their candidate for Upminster by election. – The Havering Daily

3 Julia Lopez MP | for Hornchurch & Upminster See also the Conservative website News | Hornchurch and Upminster (hornchurchandupminsterconservatives.com) both accessed 8^th August 2023

4 Local elections | Election results | The London Borough Of Havering

Havering’s Places Overview and Scrutiny Committee, 18th July 2023

David Taylor’s debut as chair proved he’s affable and courteous. The principal items on the agenda concerned trees and Havering’s fleet of vehicles. Both items had officers presenting reports with skill and panache. It was refreshing to hear experts nimbly answering questions.

Trees are very complex. A ‘canopy’ cover in Havering was a surprise. What wasn’t a surprise was a discussion of fruit trees. Brian Eagling (39 mins)¹ and Gerry O’Sullivan (46 mins) spoke passionately about the damage, danger and mess they cause. They are an unintended consequence of the 1987 Great Storm, when there was no choice of replacement trees. The lack of maintenance was emphasised by Brian Vincent (34mins). Nonetheless the political consequences of stripping trees from streets was remembered by Osman Dervish (35 mins). Trees have passionate supporters.

The principal officers for Havering’s fleet of vehicles were a masterful double-act. The ULEZ programme has many ramifications. ULEZ fines were a burning topic and no-one believed the implementation August 29^th date will be postponed.²It seems Havering will pay about £88,000 in fines. This has incentivised the procurement of compliant vehicles. Air pollution was emphasied as a driving force in addition to efficiency though Climate Change wasn’t mentioned.

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Havering Daily: a comment

The e-newspaper did a survey of councillors about ULEZ.³ Not a single councillor mentioned Public Health, which was depressing. Even the Labour Party is trapped by a desire to have it both ways.

The Havering Daily should be congratulated for their efforts. And councillors who replied are sensitive to the democratic necessity of transparent dialogue – so they too should be congratulated. A surprising non-responder was Keith Prince – a ULEZ ultra.

Notes

1 Annotator Player (sonicfoundry.com) All times refer to this webcast

2 And they were quite correct as the High Court ratified ULEZ on the 28^th July

3 Havering Councillors Reveal Their Views on the ULEZ Expansion and Pay Per Mile Scheme – The Havering Daily

Havering Cabinet Meeting, 14th June 2023

Keith Prince’s inaugural meeting as Conservative leader began immediately (@4minutes)¹ with a complaint about exempt items. Strangely, he was quasi-apologetic, which contrasts with his usual combative style. Martin Goode continues to star in this committee and he should be a mentor to Keith. Martin does his homework diligently.

Martin’s comments (8 mins) were perceptive and helpful. He built on this later when commenting on the Climate Change report (24mins). Keith Darvill² discussed the use of heat pumps and Martin asked whether Havering was on the hook for conversion costs for the houses which are to be leased for the homeless. (LBH is leasing them for 10 years.)³ The question was asked but the answer? This problem clearly hadn’t been considered showing Havering’s failed understanding of a cross-cutting approach.

Gillian Ford made five contributions (12 mins) (19 mins) (27 mins) (29 mins) (35 mins) without offering insights. Keith Darvill’s (20 mins) cross-cutting Climate Change item was a golden opportunity for cabinet members to make departmental responses. Oscar Ford should have commented on the environmental impact of route design for school transport but didn’t. Paul Middleton’s new Leisure Centre is a huge energy user and a comment on that would have been helpful in a review of Havering’s Climate Change aspirations.

Climate Change is critically important and to passively ‘receive’ a report is a reckless dereliction of duty.

Notes

1 Annotator Player (sonicfoundry.com) All timings relate to this webcast

2 (Public Pack)Agenda Document for Cabinet, 14/06/2023 19:30 (havering.gov.uk) Item 7 is very interesting

3 See item 5 (Public Pack)Agenda Document for Cabinet, 14/06/2023 19:30 (havering.gov.uk) Summary statement 1

Havering Council Meeting – 12th July, 2023

There are 54 councillors and eleven¹ were absent from this meeting. Councillors Nunn and Mugglestone were attending a family funeral but the other nine? Twenty percent of councillors absent for a council meeting? Did they forget to pick up their £200 for this week?

The death of veteran councillor Linda Hawthorn was eulogised in various ways. Chris Wilkins (@ 25 minutes)², a family friend, sounded like a vicar who’d been given notes and then went through the motions. The contrast with Robert Benham (35 mins) couldn’t have been greater. A warm, kind and personal statement did both him and Linda proud.

Graham Williamson (43 mins) forgot to bring his petition to the meeting. A pitiful lapse. This provides a commentary on his organisational abilities.

Barry Mugglestone was absent for Question Time.³ Mischievously Ray Morgon arranged for Judith Holt to have meetings with Barry about Qs. 1 and 3. Martin Goode (1 hour15) asked a very pointed question about the King’s Park estate and the quality of its infrastructure. Jason Frost (1 hour 26) asked a good question on biodiversity and planning.

A motion on e-scooters was led by Robert Benham (1 hour 50). He highlighted their menace. Robert could have asked why Havering’s private million pound policeforce⁴ don’t enforce the law but didn’t. Mandy Anderson (2 hours 05) said the Over 50s Forum condemned e-scooters. The HRA amendment was pointless.

Councillor absenteeism is outrageous and especially Damian White’s.

Notes

1 John Crowder, Philippa Crowder, Laurence Garrard, James Glass, Robby Misir, Barry Mugglestone, Stephanie Nunn, Katharine Tumility, Christine Vickery, Damian White and Darren Wise See https://havering.blog/2023/04/08/haverings-councillors-value-for-money-march-2023/ for a discussion of this point

2 Annotator Player (sonicfoundry.com) All timings relate to this webcast

3 (Public Pack)Agenda Document for Council, 12/07/2023 19:30 (havering.gov.uk) Go to Item 9 p93ff

4 Havering’s million-pound contract is with the MetPolice for five policemen. LBH is paying and OAPs fear e-scooters and so let our police leap into action. Havering’s Million Pound Mistake, 2019-22 – Politics in Havering

Political Reporting in Havering

If Havering had Proportional Representation, there wouldn’t be any councillors because most people don’t vote. There’d be an empty council chamber. Local elections are boycotted and newspapers will only report what is interesting.

Romford Recorder: 30^th June 2023

The Recorder gives politicians¹ a weekly column. Ray Morgon, Leader of the Council, filed a piece for this week.

He outlined administrative changes in the council structure, which are a Target Operating Model. The key priorities are three areas of activity: “improving our digital offering, improving our customer service and resident engagement.” He then discussed enforcement of littering laws, locking park gates (the majority don’t have gates), and cashless parking meters.

It was fascinating for geeks.

Havering Daily: accessed 3^rd July 2023

This is an e-newspaper with a section called, ‘Politics’. They highlight HRA, Brexit, Labour and LibDems.³

Access is excellent: content is terrible. Brexit and the LibDems have articles from November 2019. The most recent for HRA is 5^th June 2023 and Labour, 28^th June.

Each article is a local issue with one principal member identified with it.

An innovation is the Taylor Talks⁴ monthly column. There’s been one so far and he doesn’t identify himself as a Conservative councillor. Why? His article focuses on being proud of Romford, showing a tragic lack of ambition. His second article was due on July 1st and didn’t appear. Maybe he has a flexible concept of ‘monthly’?

Notes

1 Andrew Rosindell’s Big Idea – Politics in Havering This blog discussed Andrew Rosindell’s thoughts Recorder 14^th April 2023

2 Recorder p33 30^th June 2023

3 Conservatives aren’t listed, which could be a considered opinion

4 NEW: Taylor Talks-‘It’s time we take pride in Romford.’ – The Havering Daily